Class action lawsuit alleges Bank of America made Zelle withdrawals without authorization

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Zelle lawsuit overview:

• Who: A Bank of America customer is suing the company.
• Why: The plaintiff alleges the bank acted illegally in allowing unauthorized withdrawals from customer accounts through Zelle. 
• Where: The Zelle class action lawsuit was filed in a California state court.

Bank of America committed “massive fraud” by allowing unauthorized withdrawals of money from its customers’ bank accounts using Zelle, a new class action lawsuit alleges.

Plaintiff Cozette Willner filed a class action lawsuit against Bank of America Corporation and Zellepay.com on Feb. 24 in a California state court, alleging violations of state and federal consumer laws.

Zelle is a mobile app that allows customers to transfer money from their bank account to the bank account of another person without having to wire funds. Customers who have both a Bank of America bank account and Zelle can easily transfer money from their Bank of America bank account to someone else’s bank account, the lawsuit explains. 

However, according to the lawsuit, Bank of America has been allowing unauthorized withdrawals from customers’ Bank of America bank accounts using Zelle. 

“The withdrawals show as a Zelle transaction but were never authorized by the customer,” Willner states.

“Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereupon alleges that the unauthorized withdrawals range from $5.00 to hundreds, or even thousands of dollars.” 

Thousands of Bank of America customers may have had unauthorized Zelle deposits, lawsuit states

Willner said she believes hundreds—if not thousands—of people who had both a Bank of America account and Zelle had unauthorized transactions taken out through Zelle. 

She says the unauthorized withdrawals were caused by Bank of America’s internal system.

In her case, various unauthorized Zelle withdrawals were taken from Willner’s Bank of America bank account on Jan. 18, 2023, she says. 

“Plaintiff Willner did not initiate or authorize any of these transactions. Nevertheless, Defendants caused and processed these unauthorized withdrawals from Plaintiff Willner’s bank account amounting to $682.00,” the lawsuit states.

Willner seeks to represent all California residents who had unauthorized Zelle withdrawals from their Bank of America account in the past four years. She is suing for violations of the California consumer and business laws, and is seeking certification of the class action, damages, fees, costs and a jury trial. 

Last year, Bank of America agreed to pay $8 million to end class action claims it hit customers with multiple fees on the same checks in violation of their account agreements.

Have you had funds taken from your account by Zelle without your permission? Let us know in the comments! 

The plaintiff is represented by Esenstein Law and Bisnar Chase LLP.

The Bank of America class action lawsuit is Colette Willner et al., v. Bank of America et al., Case No. 2:23-cv-01430 in the U.S. Superior Court of the State of California.

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